Week 18 Update!

So, it is Week 18! We are now past the halfway point which feels great! I have been doing pretty well--I am still working and doing my practicum yet all of that ends in about 2 weeks. The exhaustion is still very present and I'm not sure that it is going anywhere. Michael gave me his 2nd shot this week and he did much better this time! The shots still aren't pleasant but hopefully they will work and keep the babies in as long as possible. We also had an ultrasound and doctor's appointment this morning as well. Here is a picture of our precious babies

 They all now weigh approximately 9oz. Baby A was our biggest and was in the 88th percentile (go Baby A!), Baby B was in the 83rd percentile, and Baby C was in the 70th percentile. The ultrasound tech also confirmed gender for us--we are definitely having 2 boys and 1 girl! Yay! We were really hoping for a combo so we are really happy about this. Everyone also had a good heartbeat which is wonderful. 
I'm not sure if I have felt them move yet--I'm not exactly sure what it feels like so I'm not sure if it is me or them. However, I think I have felt them at times--I feel little things that I think might be them. When we see them on the ultrasound then they are very active--it is cool to see them kicking and moving everywhere. We got new pictures of them this time as well as a DVD. So, if anyone wants to watch then we have an hour DVD of our babies :) Baby B was definitely more photogenic this time and she kept trying to make sure we could see her. It was really funny at one point--we were trying to get a profile picture of Baby A and Baby B kept coming in and Baby A just put his foot up like he was kicking Baby A to get out of the way. It was really cute :)
We also got to see more of their brains today--we could see the cerebellum as well as their right and left hemispheres of the brain. So, all of the folic acid I have been taking has definitely paid off! Their legs are a lot more distinguishable now as well and we can see their hands and feet. I love seeing them where they put their hands up by their face--its super cute. We also got to see more of their face this time and they looked at their lips. Everyone has a smooth upper lip which means that no one has a cleft palate so that is good news! I also have a lot more pictures of them that I will add to their page. It is amazing to see the growth that they have had.
So, then we went and met with Dr. Bellardo. My blood pressure is still really good and he is happy with my weight. I have definitely been gaining weight but he reassured me that the weight was okay and that it was composed of all their stuff. He went over the ultrasound with us and told us some things that are okay, but not exactly what we want. Baby A's kidneys are measuring larger than they should which means that could be a blockage somewhere. Dr. Bellardo said that if it remains enlarged then once they were born then a urologist would have to do surgery to remove the blockage. Dr. Bellardo said that he sees this fairly frequently and we will be getting more ultrasounds so he is not concerned with it yet. According to Dr. Bellardo "we have other fish to fry right now." So, even though he is not concerned we would appreciate prayers for little Baby A's kidneys that it is not permanent and the next time they will be normal size. He also told us that they weren't able to get a good picture of Baby C's heart but we saw his heart beating and he had a good heartbeat. So, that could just be due to their positioning so we aren't concerned about that. Then Dr. Bellardo told us that 2 weeks ago my cervix was measuring at 4cm and now my cervix is measuring at 3.5cm which means that I have lost 0.5cm. My cervix is still closed and it is in the normal range yet Dr. Bellardo said that this confirms the bed rest. He wants me to go onto strict bed rest and is not recommending that I go out at all. He said that my weekly outing can be to come and visit him and then we can valet park so I don't have to walk far. So, I didn't really think that I would be getting out of bed rest but it seems that now it is necessary. So, he doesn't want me to go out to eat or even go to the movies. So, he said that it is just for 14 weeks which is not that much in the span of my life--it may seem like it though :) We all know that I love Dr. Bellardo (a lot) yet I didn't think that going to see him every week would be the high-light and outing of my week...oh well :) So, it is really important that my cervix continues to stay closed and we don't lose any more centimeters. Dr. Bellardo said that I may have to stand on my head to keep the babies away from my cervix :)
So, other than that everything seems to be going okay. I am just going to take it as easy as possible these next 2 weeks until I go on official bed-rest. I will be adding more pictures of the babies after I sort through them a little bit more so keep looking at their pages. So please keep the babies in your prayers especially Baby A's kidneys and my body. We appreciate everyone's support of us :)